Runs With Wolves
by Lady Mizune
Summary: I pretty much just put myself into the story, my charachter is the half demon daughter of wolf demon. After her father is killed she seeks acceptance from the wolf demon tribe her mother came from. Koga was reluctant to accept a "half breed" but then leaves her in the hands of Hakkaku and Ginta. All the wonderful adventures of wolf demon tribe because there is never enough! R&R plz
1. Chapter 1

**Runs with Wolves**

**Chapter One:**

I had been traveling now for what seemed like days, almost doubting that I'll ever make it. No food, no water, and it was beginning to take its toll on me. I sighed, crouching down bedside the small stream for a drink. Maybe I'm just not meant to find them; it shouldn't be this hard to find a tribe of wolf demons. Unless the old monk lied to me, but he wouldn't, would he? Now that I look back on it, he was very hesitant to talk to me to start with. What is it about humans that make them hate us so much? Then again demons don't really like my company either. I guess it has to do with the whole half demon thing. Something I still had yet to accept.

I stared at my reflection for a moment; I didn't see anything wrong with me. So what if my ears were pointed? They were hidden mostly by my long, curly, brown hair. My eyes were mostly normal too, just a light shade of blue. I guess the only thing that anyone could spot first hand was my long brown tail. They all knew I was a wolf by that aspect I suppose, or maybe it was my mother's armor I wore? She wasn't famous though; only in the village I grew up in did anyone know her. I rubbed the fur that covered my arms. This was all I really knew of my mother. The light brown fur top that covered my small breasts, the matching fur skirt with a small red bow on the side that matched the one that held back some of my hair, and the fur on my arms and legs.

I shook my head and stood up; I'm getting too much into my own thoughts. I need to find the wolf demon tribe and beg Koga, the leader, to take me in by sun down. Tonight is the night of the full moon, when I lose my demon powers and return human. Sad really, what kind of wolf fears the full moon. Lucky for me though there was still a bit of time before the sun sets. Maybe I'm being too hard on the situation. I took a deep breath and stretched my arms up over my head. Yeah, that's it, I'm sure when I get there Koga will welcome me with open arms, and we'll have a huge feast for no reason. With boar and fish, maybe even some chicken. Oh how I love chicken and what I would do for some, but trying to picture all this food was making my stomach turn flips.

My keen ears then picked up a very pleasing sound, it was wolves. So I wasn't far off after all. Picking up some extra hidden strength I hurried towards them. I was right, my face lit up with joy. Through the trees there was a tall waterfall surrounded with wolf demons, dressed just as I am. What luck, to find them even before the sun started set. Before I could get any closer, though, I was approached by two men. One with silver hair and a blue splotch in the front, he had burgundy leather around his chest and arms, and tan fur around his back, bottom, and legs. The other only had a strip of white hair that stuck up in the middle of his head; he had dark blue leather around his chest, shoulders and arms, and brown fur for his bottoms and legs as well. "Who are you?" The one with the blue splotch spoke first. His voice was soft, but a little demanding.

"My name is Mizune, and I'm here to speak with Koga." I was more than eager to tell them anything they wanted to know.

"Do you think we should?" He looked over to the other one in confusion.

"I don't know, he's not in the best mood today" The other spoke, his voice was a bit deeper, though slightly raspy.

"Yeah, I know, I don't want to be the one to deal with him if he gets angry."

"Well me either!"

"You guys don't have to take me, just point the way." I was afraid if I didn't interrupt them then they would carry on the conversation and ignore that I was even here. They both just looked at me, scowling a little. Was is something I said? "O-or you both could just take me.."

"Sounds fine to me." They both replied without any hesitation this time.

"Just follow us.. uhh… What did you say your name was again?"

"Mizune" I smiled brightly, although these guys are strange, I like them. "And you guys?"

"Were the right and left hand men of Koga!" The one with the white hair stripe announced. "I'm Hakkaku, the shroud one!"

"And I'm Ginta, I got dimples!" He pointed to his cheeks. I couldn't help but laugh a little, these guys are idiots; very adorable idiots. The rest of the way up to the waterfall was more or less silent. All the other wolves seemed to just look at me strange, although I was use to it; it still made me feel uncomfortable. Could they tell I was only a half demon? Hakkaku and Ginta didn't seem to have a problem with me, or did they? Well once Koga lets me into the tribe, then maybe I'll stop getting all these looks. Oh, to be accepted by someone finally, I couldn't wait.

All the other wolves were hidden behind the large waterfall. A clever hideout if you ask me, but annoying. Who wants to get wet every time they come in and leave? Not me that's for sure. This place was very large for the amount of wolves that were hidden in it. At the very end of the cave, sitting on a large rock covered in fur, was what I assumed was Koga. No one else had a fancy place to sit like that. He was sitting cross legged with his cheek resting in his hand. He had long black hair that was pulled back into a tie, and fur smashing down some of his bangs. Though his bright blue eyes caught most of my attention, almost like mine, only a bit darker in color. He was really handsome, rough around the edges, but handsome none the less.

"This girl insisted we bring her to talk to you, Koga." Hakkaku started

"Yeah she said it was real important" Ginta joined in. Funny how that's not exactly how I remember that conversation going. They stood aside and I walked closer to Koga.

"What do you want?" He sighed; his voice was sharp, and deeper than the others. It seemed as though he would rather be doing everything else on the face of the earth, than talk to me.

"I wish for you to accept me into you tribe..." I stammered over the words a little as they came out, and was sure to bow my head in respect to him. He was the tribe leader after all.

"No" was all I heard as a reply. My head shot up to look at him, a dumbfounded expression on my face. Of all the ways I thought that this would happen, I never expected him to just flat out tell me no.

"B-but why?"

"Because, there is no room in my tribe for a half-breed." That title, it cut my ears upon entering. How I loathe that title, half breed.

"My mother was in this tribe long ago, can't you just.."

"No, half breed, get lost. Your stench is already bothering my nose." I didn't know what else to say to that.

"Harsh, Koga" Hakkaku chimed in, but it was too late. My human emotion, mixed with everything I've gone through the past few days, just started to slip out. No matter how hard I tried to keep the tears back, they came out anyway.

"Aw, Koga you didn't have to go and make her cry!" Ginta jumped in too.

"You two have a problem with my decision?" He snapped, the side of his face curled up to show his fang.

"N-not at all" Ginta stuttered.

"Well, you didn't have to.." Hakkaku started, but before he could finish, Koga got up and approached us. Ginta hid behind Hakkaku and buried his face into his shoulder.

"If you think I'm too harsh, and that I'm making the wrong decision, then you two take her!" He snapped, grabbing my shoulder and pushing me into Hakkaku. Luckily he caught me, and we weren't all sent to the ground. "She's your problem now, keep an eye on her and don't ever let her get in my way."

"Y-yes sir" Hakkaku grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the cave, with Ginta following promptly behind us. We stopped on a rock outside the waterfall that hung to the cliff side.

"That was scary; I told you he was in a bad mood!" Ginta snapped

"Don't make this out to be my fault, Ginta! You insisted we take the girl."

"Did not!" After that their attention was then turned on me, and their expressions changed when they noticed I was still crying. "Don't cry, Mizune"

"Yeah, it's not all bad! Koga might not like it, but technically you are in the tribe now."

"And you have us to look after you, what could be better than that!" They were right, and I couldn't help but smile yet again at them.

"Thank you, Ginta, Hakkaku" I wrapped my arms around them, Ginta on my left, Hakkaku on my right. "Thank you for standing up for me, and for changing his mind, and for being kind to me even though I'm only a half breed."

"You don't have to thank us." Hakkaku's cheeks were slightly pink at the embrace.

"I promise I won't let you guys down!" I smiled and wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.

"As long as you do what Koga tells you, he shouldn't have any more problems with you." Ginta smiled back at me

"Yeah, and right now Ginta and I are on guard duty for the night, so I guess that means that you are too."

"Wait, overnight?"

"Yeah, is something wrong with that?"Hakkaku's expression grew confused.

"Tonight is the night of the full moon.." My gaze lowered to the ground.

"Yeah, so?" Ginta sounded confused too. I couldn't tell them could I? Maybe I should, they're my family now aren't they? Will they understand though? This is the first time I've really been accepted by anyone; I don't want to ruin it.

"The night of the full moon is when…" I sighed, with one last debate to myself on whether or not I would tell them. "It's when I become human.." I flinched slightly, afraid with what their reaction would be.

"Then we will just have to be more vigilant!" Hakkaku chuckled a little.

"Yeah, don't worry sister; we won't let any get you!" Ginta smiled, and I returned the favor. Sister, the word rang around in my head a few times and I could feel my heart light up inside my chest. I can't remember a time where anyone other than my father had ever made me this happy.

**This is the first time that I have let anyone read the stories I wrote, not a big fan of criticism. Though I have always wanted to know what people thought of my stories. So I threw on my big girl panties and put up the newest story im writing. This is my second fan fiction and depending how this one goes over I may put up the first one I wrote too. I write most if not all of my stories in first person, it's what im most comfortable with when writing. Makes me feel a part of my stories, as I so wish I was. I hope people like it! and if not, then Im sorry.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

As night fell across the sky the three of us gathered around a fire. There wasn't really much to this 'guard duty' stuff, you just sit outside and talk; which of course I was fine with, being in my current state. I didn't do much of the talking anyway. Ginta and Hakkaku, I swear, could have a conversation with a wall. I nodded every now and again when they asked me to agree with something, not that I could keep up anyway. My mind was mostly fixed on the fish slowly cooking around the fire. I can't remember when my last meal was, and when the time came, I was going to completely destroy these fish. My stomach suddenly growled rather loudly at the thought. I guess they heard because both of them turned to me, and my face light up bright red.

"Should I have gotten more fish?" Ginta laughed and Hakkaku slowly joined him.

"Don't laugh at me!" I reached up to cover my face with my hands, but leaving enough room between my fingers to still see them.

"They should be ready, so hurry up and eat." Hakkaku grabbed two of the fish and handed one across the fire to me.

"Hey that one was mine!" Ginta whined. When I went to hand him the fish though, Hakkaku pushed my hand away.

"There's more fish, stupid."

"But I wanted _that_ one.." He whined again, flashing Hakkaku his puppy dog eyes.

"Those don't work on me, Ginta" but they certainly worked on me, how can you say no to such an adorable face?

"Here, Ginta, you can have it." I flashed him a bright smile. "I had my eyes set on that other one anyway." I lied, but can you blame me? I had to stop that adorable face before my heart exploded.

"Can I really?" his face lit up as he took the fish from me. "Wow, thanks, Mizune, you're the best!"

"I don't know about all that now." I smiled half sarcastically. It was just a stupid fish, why does it matter who eats what one? Well that's what I thought, until I realized that his was the biggest, jerk.

It was so much more difficult to eat a fish without any fangs to rip through it. I sighed, pushing some of my blonde hair behind my now rounded ears; wishing that it would just teleport into my stomach and get it to shut up. I was also more or less surprised that neither of them said anything about my now human looks. They may be stupid, but they're not oblivious, are they? Well I guess it was a relief, the one thing I hate talking about above all else, is about being a half demon. Then out of nowhere they both froze in place, looking through the trees, examining something. I was sure now that they weren't oblivious.

"What is it?" I whispered, not knowing what they were looking for, and it's not like I could sense anything in this state.

"Something's coming this way." Ginta whispered back to me, and they both stood up to get a better look over the fire.

"It's a demon" Hakkaku corrected. I quickly got up and grabbed for the two daggers I kept hidden down in my skirt.

"I thought you said you couldn't fight as a human." Ginta looked at me as I went to hide myself behind them.

"I _can_ fight, just not that good."

"It's no problem, just stay behind us, sister" Ginta turned back around and we both followed Hakkaku into the trees. Neither of them seemed too worried, but I had bad feeling regardless.

"Well where is..." I was quickly interrupted by Hakkaku pushing me out of the way of a falling tree. It had answered my question though. The demon was that of a large, black scorpion, at least ten men in height. They both started to beat up on him with their fists and feet, but to no avail. Why the hell don't these guys carry weapons? With the attention of the scorpion turned to them, I threw one of my daggers at its large tail. The beast retaliated with a shot of poison from its tail in my direction. I tried to jump out of the way but being a human slowed me down dramatically. I tried not to scream out in pain when the poison burned at the skin on my shoulder. With Ginta and Hakkaku's attention now turned to me in worry, they were then thrown into the trees by one of its large claws. I tried to call out to them, but I got no response.

Now it was just me against the beast, with only one dagger, and a crappy human body. Of course, this was just my luck when it came to these sorts of things. Without much further thought I jumped on top of the beast, if I can just reach the tail I can get my dagger back. The demon thrust his tail at me, scraping my leg as I tried to move out of the way. What surprised me the most was that the tail went straight into his own body. Now I know how to defeat it, thank the god's I'm dealing with a demon so stupid. After the demons tail struck itself, and I a few times it started to succumb to blood loss. I was able to then grab my other dragger without further distractions and finish him off. Conveniently, Ginta and Hakkaku came back just as the beast was slain. I put my daggers back into skirt and hurried over to see if they were okay. Although before I could make it I fell to one knee, gasping for breath and clutching at the poison on my shoulder.

"Are you okay, Mizune?" they both called to me in harmony, rushing to my side. All I really had the energy for was to nod in reply. Damn this human body, I hate it, and I hate being weak. I wrapped my left arm over Ginta's shoulders and my right over Hakkaku as they helped me back towards the small camp we made. I didn't really want their help though, I could walk, but they insisted. I don't like having to depend on anyone, it makes me look weak.

When we made it back to the camp they set me down next to the fire that seemed to still burn just fine. Only problem, all of our fish were gone, must have been carried off by some of the other wolves. Ginta and Hakkaku also noticed and whined at the empty sticks. My loud stomach growl interrupted them yet again. "Don't worry, Mizune, I'll get some more!" Ginta started to laugh at me yet again.

"It's not funny!" I yelled at him, but he had already left. I looked over at Hakkaku; his eyes were fixed on my shoulder. He didn't seem to want to join in laughing with Ginta or go with him. "Is something wrong? Why didn't you go with him?" his expression changed, and a big, goofy grin crossed his lips.

"Someone has to stay here and protect you!" He chuckled lightly. Who the hell was he trying to fool with that fake smile and fake laugh? Did he feel bad that I got hurt? Couldn't be that, they had only really just met me. I mean, yeah, I was now part of the family and everything, but that still doesn't change much.

"I'm okay really, it doesn't even hurt." I hoped he couldn't see through my fake smile as easily as I could his."I'm just glad that you two were okay..." I wasn't just saying it either, I really was relieved.

"Oh, don't worry about us." He mumbled, a slight brush of pink across his cheeks. Okay, something was seriously wrong with him. My thoughts were cut short by the light of the sun coming up over the distance.

"Finally!" I shouted up at the sky. As soon as the light hit me, my hair went back to brown, my ears pointed, my claws and fangs stretched out, and my tail popped back out. I was feeling better than ever, although the poison still gnawed at my shoulder. I could ignore it though, especially since Ginta was on his way back with the fish. I could smell it, and my mouth began to water, but wait, what was that other smell? I know that smell, it was something tasty, and then it hit me, it was a boar! Without further thought I grabbed my daggers and took off running towards it. I could hear Hakkaku calling after me, but I couldn't stop. I was hungry and I wanted that boar, now!

I stood there, the boar and I at a staring death match. I growled under my breath and it kicked dirt up with one of its hooves. It was ready to charge, and I was ready for it. I nibbled on my lower lip with one of my fangs, the anticipation was killing me, but I had to be patient. Being only a half demon, I'm not fast enough to ever out run a boar of this size. Then finally, after what seemed like forever, the boar charged at me with a large squeal. I let out a small growl in return; the wolf in me loved the hunt, half the fun of eating something so tasty was watching it wriggle in fear. When it got close enough to me I pounced on it, driving my daggers straight into its back. The boar let out a large squeal and I growled back at it, sinking my daggers further into its skin. After I was sure the boar was dead I took out my daggers and licked one clean before putting them away. It had been a long time since I've hunted like that.

When I dropped the boar down by the fire, Ginta and Hakkaku's eyes were big and bright. I laughed slightly when I saw the fish that were around the fire, calling them tiny would be an understatement, and an insult to small fish. Ginta then flashed me his puppy dog eyes, and I felt bad for laughing. With that I determined he should have the first slice, until Hakkaku decided to join him. I smiled at them and could feel my cheeks warm up.

"You guys have got to stop doing that!" That only made things worse, now that they knew those eyes worked on me. "You act like I'm not going to share!"

"I want the ribs..." Ginta mumbled, still continuing to crush my heart with his puppy face.

"And… I want the stomach..." Hakkaku followed with his suggestion. I sighed and pulled out one of my daggers. These two, what am I going to do with them. Of course I had to give them what they wanted before they killed me with that look. I settled for the other side of the boar without even bothering to cook it. Before I knew it, I had eaten just about all that was left, other than the face, rear, and organs. I may be part wolf, but I'm very stingy about what I eat. Ginta and Hakkaku were fast asleep by the time I was finished. Ginta was curled up next to Hakkaku, using his chest as a pillow. It had been a while since I had gotten a good night sleep as well, even though it wasn't night anymore. I wonder if they would mind… I crawled over to the other side of Hakkaku and rested my head on his stomach. My heart skipped slightly when I felt Hakkaku's arm reach over my shoulder, but I didn't think much of it after that and was fast asleep before I knew it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

I had been in the tribe now for quite a few days, and I was still being treated as if I didn't belong. It was so irritating. The only people that ever cared to be around me were Ginta and Hakkaku, but Koga was always pulling them away with him to find this Naraku person. I hate when they leave, the other wolves always take advantage of me, making me do all these useless tasks. Like today, Ginta and Hakkaku are out with Koga and one of the guys has me looking for some kind of fruit called a strawberry. It's supposedly a red berry with its seeds on the outside. What kind of crap is that? It's like I'm the tribe moron or something, and I'm sure they all think it's more than hilarious. A berry with seeds on the outside, preposterous! Still, I can't come back until I've found some.

Who was this Naraku, and why was it so imperative that Koga find him? When I asked Ginta, he told me that he had wiped out a large chunk of the pack, and that Koga _had_ to get revenge. What a hot-head that Koga is. He sure does piss me off with all that half breed crap. You can't this because you're a half breed and you can't that because you're a half breed. Well so the hell what if I am? I growled loudly and thrust my fist into one of the surrounding trees. Damn that Koga, he knows exactly how to get on my last nerve! I would never have any of these stupid menial problems if Ginta and Hakkaku would just take me with them! I'm so sick of them leaving me here to deal with all these irritating chores. I've searched half the day away for these damn strawberry things. It's obvious they don't exist; I'm just going to go back so they can all have their stupid laugh and be done with it. I need a bath or a nap or something, anything to just get away and relax.

I was suddenly distracted from all my pent up anger by the smell of blood, wolf blood. From what I could tell it wasn't Ginta, or Hakkaku, not Koga either. I didn't recognize who it was at all, but the smell just kept getting stronger and stronger. Whoever it was, they were coming my way. I cautiously walked towards the smell. This better not be some sick joke, because if it is, someone is going down. I was wrong though, it wasn't a joke at all. It was a female wolf from another tribe; she had long reddish-brown hair pulled back into two ties and white fur around her back and bottom. She was just lying there, lifeless, blood pouring from her right side. You could even follow the path she took to get here there was so much blood. I swiftly ran over to her and rolled her over on her back to see if she was still alive. Her breathing was really shallow and she didn't seem to want to open her eyes.

"What happened? Who did this to you?" So many questions ran through my mind but I was sure to weed through to the important ones.

"W… where's Ko... Koga?" She managed to mumble out, and didn't speak anymore after that. I quickly scooped her up into my arms and began my way back to the waterfall. She may be small, but she sure does weigh a ton. Even though she was still bleeding I kept telling myself she was going to be just fine. I hated watching people die, especially if I can't do anything to help.

I had been gone longer than I had originally thought. Everyone that left with Koga in search of Naraku, were already back and relaxing. Lucky for them I was too busy to get even further pissed off at them. Koga seemed to recognize this girl immediately. He was down by my side in an instant to take her out of my arms.

"Mizune, what happened to Ayame?" He growled as if it were my fault she looked like that.

"I found her like that; she was just lying in the woods. It looked like she tried crawling here, but I don't know where from."

"Ayame, what happened?" His face cringed with anger.

"K.. Koga.." She clutched at her side and spoke rather soft.

"Don't worry, Ayame, I'm right here, you're safe now. Tell me what happened?" His voice was so intense. Who was this girl, and what was she to Koga? He would never act that way towards me. Not that I would want him too, that jerk! My face flushed lightly at my stupid thoughts.

"T… they're all dead… Naraku... H... he..." That was all she could manage to squeeze out before she fainted from blood loss. Koga handed her limp body to a couple of guys and insisted they take her somewhere safe. He was planning to go after Naraku _again, _and take Ginta and Hakkaku. Oh no, they are not leaving me here with these jerks again. I'm going with them whether they like it or not! Koga can just suck it up and deal with it!

They were ready to set out in no time, Ginta and Hakkaku waved to me as they walked away with Koga. Little did they know I was coming with. I didn't plan on openly telling them, they always seemed to want to take the path that made Koga the least angry. I wasn't afraid of him though; let him get angry, he doesn't scare me! It seemed like he knew I was following the whole time, but he didn't say anything. Maybe he didn't know I was there, he was probably still caught up in his earlier anger. Ginta and Hakkaku were idiots, though, I knew they had no idea I was there. I was like a ninja, sneaking swiftly between the trees. All of this of course was too good to be true. As I was trying to rush to another tree I ran straight into Koga and fell onto my back.

"What do you think you're doing?" He snapped, looking utterly unamused.

"I'm coming with you, to help you get Naraku." As serious as I tried to make it sound, all he did was just laugh. "It's not funny!"

"A mere half breed like you could never lay so much as a scratch on Naraku!"

"You have no idea!"

"It would take an army of pathetic half breeds like you, and even then you couldn't defeat him." That was it, my last nerve had snapped. I shot up from the ground and took a deep breath.

"Half breed, half breed, half breed! I'm so sick of hearing it! You have no idea what I'm capable of because you're too busy with your head up your ass to even give me a chance! You're a jerk, and your words hurt, I'm sick of hearing them! Just you wait Koga, I'll bring back Naraku's head without anyone's help and you'll be sorry you ever doubted me!" My hands were clenched in fists down by my sides. I wanted so much to hit him, but after looking at the traumatized face that Ginta and Hakkaku made, I couldn't bring myself to. I didn't want to leave, not without Ginta and Hakkaku, but I knew they would never leave Koga. I had to do this on my own; I had to prove to everyone that I was more capable than any full demon. Koga said nothing to retaliate, just stood there, shocked. To be honest I was quite shocked as well, my anger never usually gets the better of me like that. I just walked past him, pushing him slightly with my shoulder as I passed by.

I never really noticed how much I missed the company of my two best friends until they weren't around. I'm starting to think that I had made a bad decision. After being alone so long, the last thing I wanted was to go back to that. I was always at my happiest when I was around Ginta and Hakkaku. They always knew exactly how to make me laugh; I didn't even have to hold a conversation with them. Even more importantly, they made me feel wanted and even though everyone else had a problem with me, they never did. I could feel my eyes starting to well up, I had made the wrong choice. It's not like I could go back though, Koga would never accept me back in after the way I yelled at him. I had to bring back Naraku's head, whoever he was...

The smell of human blood and something burning started to fill the air. It was probably a village being plundered. As bad as I felt for all of them, I couldn't go that way. I can't stand the site of human corpses, not since I found my father dead. I shiver when up my spine as I started to recall the events of that night. No matter how hard I try, it's permanently etched into my memory. I was then broken away from my thoughts as I was approached by a small human girl. She had short black hair, a purple kimono on and was clutching a raggedy stuffed bunny. She was covered in dirt and soot, obviously from the village; I could smell it on her.

"Please help me!" She looked up at me, her large chocolate brown eyes filled with tears. "My mommy, please help my mommy!" How is she not afraid of me? A girl so young faced with a demon and yet shows no fear at all? I was baffled; I didn't know what to do. "Please!" I couldn't stand that look in her eyes anymore, my mind was made up.

"Where is she? What happened?" I knelt down to look her in the eyes.

"Back in the village, if the men find her they are going to kill her, please hurry!"

"What does your mommy look like?"

"She's tall… and pretty" she stopped herself to try and think for a second. "She looks like me, only bigger!"

"Okay, wait here and hide. I'll go find her." I had no idea what I was getting myself into, but I couldn't stand the look of loneliness in her eyes. She's way too young to know how it feels to have someone she loves taken from her. It just wouldn't be fair.

The village wasn't that far off, once I made it out of the woods it was right there. I tried to sneak around one of the buildings that they had yet to set fire. In the center of the village, near what looked like a well, a group of girls sat all huddled together. The bodies of men and children were all scared about. It seemed like there was one man at the head of all this. He sat atop a horse with his back turned to me, announcing his men to get everything they could carry. I grabbed my daggers and clutched them tightly. My first instinct was to just jump in there and kill them all, but I was more than heavily outnumbered.

"I found another one boss!" I heard a man announce from behind me, but before I could turn around to defend myself I was wrapped tightly in a rope lasso. I was then drug by him into the center with all the other women.

"Excellent work, you found a young demon girl. She may not be a suitable wife, but one can never have enough pets." His laugh was twisted. I couldn't see the expression he made, his face was mostly covered up, all except one eye. The clothes he wore were strange too, like nothing I had ever seen. He was covered mostly in black robes with a hood over his head. You could hardly see any parts of his body.

"Let me go!" I struggled to get free; of course like an idiot I dropped my daggers.

"Silence, wench!" the man on the horse snapped at me.

"Make me! Untie these ropes and fight me like a man!"

"Such a disgusting mouth this wench has. On second thought, just kill her." He chuckled again. His voice disgusted me, and the fact that he wasn't man enough to come down here and face me disgusted me even more. I was suddenly pushed from behind and fell flat on my stomach with my face in the dirt. The person that did it stood with one foot on my back so I couldn't move. Another man approached me holding a rather tall spear, but the closer he got the less of him I could see. It was difficult to look up with that asshole standing on my back. I felt him move the hair from my neck with the dull side of the spear, then the wind that followed as he swung it in the air. I clenched my eyes shut tightly, afraid of what was going to happen next.

**A big thank you to the three people that follow my story! You guys make me very excited to continue writing it! I hope that means that you guys enjoy it, and i hope you enjoy this new chapter as well! i promise the story will only get better from here~!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

I just laid there for a few seconds, motionless, my eyes still clenched shut. Was it over, was I dead? What a truly pathetic way to die. This was no way to prove myself to Koga at all. I was jumping to conclusions though, I wasn't dead. Someone stopped the spear from chopping off my head, and his voice was so familiar. I couldn't smell anything over the scent of blood and smoke, and I couldn't see with someone still standing on my back, but as soon as he spoke to me, I knew exactly who it was.

"Stupid girl, I let you off on your own for not even one day; and you almost go and get yourself killed." Koga growled, but somewhere in his voice it seemed like it was funny to him. I didn't know what to say to him, it wasn't funny at all. I was ashamed, no, more than that. Appalled, sickened, and embarrassed more like it. He was right, I told him I was tough enough to defeat Naraku and here I was; mere inches from death. Now was no time to be feeling sorry for myself, I needed to prove to him I can manage for myself. After the guy was knocked off my back I was able to wiggle myself free. The first thing I needed to do was get my daggers, I'm more or less hopeless without them. Before I could even do anything though, the woman of the village were already untied and thanking Koga, Ginta, and Hakkaku for all their help. My heart sank a little, why did he come save me? It would have saved me the horrible embarrassment if they would have just let that guy lob off my head.

"Hey, sis, are you okay?" Ginta called over to me with a big smile on his face. I took a deep breath, and with a heavy sigh I made my way over to them.

"I'm fine..." I mumbled half heartedly.

"Is that any way to thank us for saving you?" Koga scowled at me. I growled at him under my breath, annoyed slightly.

"I didn't need _your_ help, _Koga_" I snapped back at him as I folded my arms across my chest and looked away smugly.

"What? Don't give me that crap! I saved your ass and you know it."

"I could have handled it just fine on my own!"

"I'm sure you could have with your head rolling across the dirt!"

"You have no idea what I was planning to do!"

"Sure I do; you were planning to get yourself killed!" We were now shouting face to face. With each of our turns we shouted louder and growled rather viciously.

"I didn't need your help Koga, you jerk!" With all the anger and frustration I was letting out my eyes began to water a little.

"Aw, Koga, why are you always making her cry?" Hakkaku stepped in and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, Ginta joined him.

"I'm not crying!" I yanked myself free of their grasps and wiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

"I'm sorry..." Koga mumbled and turned his head away from me as his cheeks flushed softly. My eyes widened, I was completely caught off guard. Was he really apologizing to me?

"W… what?"

"You heard me!" He snapped. "I said I was sorry..." He mumbled again, only this time a little louder. He still never looked back at me though. I wasn't quite sure what exactly he was sorry for, but I didn't want to push it. It already seemed like it was eating away at him to even apologize in the first place.

"Does that mean you'll let me go with you?"

"I _guess._" He grumbled, but it was a yes none the less. "Someone has to keep you from getting yourself killed." He laughed a little; too bad he was the only one that thought it was funny. Jerk. He needs to learn when to quit while he's ahead. I wasn't going to let his stupidity get to me, but I still wonder what Ginta and Hakkaku said to him to make him come back and even apologize. I don't ever plan on asking.

We left the village in a bit of a rush, Koga was so determined to find Naraku and make him pay for what he did to Ayame. Who I later found out was his soon-to-be wife. Not that I cared or anything, but a part of seemed restless with the thought. Don't know why, I just continued to tell myself I didn't care, because I didn't! My two best friends Ginta and Hakkaku were all I needed, who cared about Koga? Not me, that's for sure. I suddenly started to feel a little flustered with all my thoughts and shook my head to try and get them out. All these thoughts are silly and childish, Koga was a jerk and that's all there was to it.

Darkness had fallen over the sky in no time, and after determining that we would never catch up to Koga, we decided to just settle in for the night. I didn't realize that there were so many events going on in the world around me and I was lucky I had Ginta and Hakkaku to fill me in on everything. This thing called the Shikon jewel that supposedly everyone wants to get their hands on, including Naraku who has most of the jewel's shards. I guess when Koga told me I couldn't take him on, he wasn't lying. If the jewel makes you so much stronger with each shard you have this Naraku must be an animal. Maybe I would have a chance if I found some shards myself, but I would never even know where to start looking, and I could never steal Koga's. Even if that jerk does leave us in the dust with them.

Those two were at it again, arguing over Koga. They were so unbelievably sensitive when it came to dealing with him, and they could argue forever. It was usually so hard not to laugh at them, they say such stupid things. If I did laugh at them they would torture me to death with the puppy eyes, and no matter how many times they used that trick on me I always fell for it.

"Why don't you two just accept the fact that probably neither of you are Koga's favorite." I attempted to end the argument. It was such a pointless thing to carry on an actually argument about anyway.

"What are you saying, Mizune?" Ginta looked over at me with his lower lip pushed into a pout.

"Yeah, how would you know who Koga's favorite was?" Hakkaku joined him. I sighed back at them in reply, these two are seriously hopeless.

"This is not a valid argument, don't drag me into it." I folded my arms tightly across my chest.

"Well, which one of us do you think is his favorite, Mizune?" Ginta flashed me his puppy dog eyes.

"Humph, I told you not to drag me into it." I rolled my eyes at them, but he was persistent with the face.

"Fine, Ginta, you're Koga's favorite!" As much as I didn't want to be in this petty argument they found a way to drag me in.

"That's not fair!" Hakkaku jumped in.

"Sure it is, just deal with it!" Ginta stuck his tongue out at him.

"Fine, Hakkaku, you're Koga's favorite."

"Wait, that's not right!" Ginta whined at me

"Fine then, geez, Ginta your Koga's favorite!"

"What!" then Hakkaku whined at me.

"No, enough! Ginta is Koga's favorite, end of discussion!" they weren't going to allow me to just leave it at that, Ginta was happy with my answer but I still received the puppy glare from Hakkaku. "Okay, Hakkaku, how about this? Ginta can be Koga's favorite, and you can be mine? There, problem solved!" He stopped with the face and just sat there as his cheeks turned red. I guess it didn't come out sounding like I had it planned in my head. My face started to flush too; I hope he knew I didn't mean it like that. Not that Ginta was helping any, elbowing him in the side and making goofy faces. "It's not even like that!" I snapped at him, but the red on my face just grew darker as Ginta mocked me too. Wrapping one of his arms around my neck, and the other around Hakkaku's, trying to pull us together. What an idiot Ginta is.

"Get off, Ginta!" Hakkaku pulled himself away from his grasp, and I followed.

"I'm going to sleep..." I growled at them and turned around to where my back was facing them.

It was unusually cold tonight for the time of season it was and I found it really difficult to fall asleep. I mostly just lay there with my eyes closed shivering slightly. They thought I was asleep though, which was nice because they kept they voices down. Every now and again I could hear them mumbling something, but never what it was that they were actually saying. Hopefully it wasn't about what I said earlier, Ginta made it out to be way more than he should have. My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by warm arms that wrapped themselves around me; picking me up off the ground. It was Hakkaku, but what the hell was he doing? I kept pretending to be asleep to see what he was up to, I'm sure he wouldn't be picking me up if I was awake. He leaned up against a tree or a rock or something and just continued to hold me in his arms. What the hell was he trying to do, keep me warm? Or was it that he actually gathered something from what I said earlier? I opened my left eye slightly just to see what he was doing. He was asleep! Just cradling me like a baby against his chest, one arm wrapped around my shoulders and the other around my waist. Even though he was asleep his cheeks were red and his heart was beating faster than normal. Of course, my face was red now too.

After I was sure he was fast asleep, I slowly pulled myself out of his grasp trying my best not to wake him up. I didn't want to leave right away and hurt his feelings, I'm sure it took a lot for him to do that. If I was ever going to get any sleep I had to get away though. Not that I hated him holding me or anything, he _was_ keeping me warm. Ugh, what am I thinking, I need to just go for a walk and clear my head. They were both asleep and I would be back before they ever noticed I was gone. Just a simple walk in the woods and that was all I would need. I made sure to sneak away quietly and watch the ground for anything I could step on that would make noise. Halfway through my walk I was interrupted by rustling in the trees around me.

"Who's there?" I called out, hoping that it was either Ginta or Hakkaku. Instead something or someone dressed in a white baboon fur came out of the trees in front of me. "Who are you?" I reached down towards my daggers just in case I needed to defend myself.

"Just a friend." His voice was deep and a little cold sounding.

"What do you want?" I replied back rather rudely.

"Nothing really, I didn't mean to frighten you."

"You didn't, but I'll be going now." I started to back away, still keeping my eye on him.

"Wait." He stopped me before I could leave.

"What?"

"You're in the demon wolf tribe, right?"

"Why does it matter?"

"With Koga, right?

"Yeah, if you want to talk to him he's not here."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, we're all kind of busy looking for someone right now, so if you don't mind…"

"Who? If you don't mind my asking." Who the hell was this guy, why was he asking me so many questions?

"Some guy named Naraku."

"And you think you can defeat him?"

"I probably couldn't, I'm not exactly the strongest wolf out there…"

"Do you want to be able to?" he always sounded so smug; everything that came out of his mouth was just so cocky.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I can help you."

"Who said I needed anyone's help?" I snapped at him. He then held out his hand and opened it, revealing two small purple shards.

"Do you know what these are?"

"The Shikon jewel shards?"

"Precisely." He stretched his hand out further towards me. "Go ahead, take them." Something in the back of my head told me not to trust this guy, but why would anyone give up the chance to receive more power. So without any further hesitation I took them from him.

"Thanks…" I mumbled, toying with the shards in my hands. "Who did you say you were again?" I looked back up to him, but he was no longer standing there. That had to have been the strangest encounter I had ever had with anyone. Who was that guy, and why did he want me to have these shards? Was it that he wanted Naraku defeated too? Whatever the reason, I still had a strange feeling about trusting him. I went ahead and put the shards in my hands, since I insisted on using my daggers all the time. How was I supposed to know if it worked though? I feel stronger, but was I?

For a test I took out one of my daggers and aimed steadily for one of the trees around me. The speed was incredible; after I threw it I couldn't even keep my eyes on it. There was a hole through the tree I threw it at, where the dagger had just gone straight through it. It went through the tree behind it and the tree behind that, until six or seven trees later, my dagger had finally stopped in the center of one. This was amazing; I couldn't believe the power of these shards. Why would anyone just give them away to someone they didn't even know? Whatever, he did and now their mine. I can now finally prove myself to Koga!

**I had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter~ So, I really hope you guys enjoyed it. Not many people have read my story, which is fine. Three of you are following it and that makes me feel special enough. Thanks~!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five:**

Before I knew it, the sun had started to come up, and I hadn't gotten any sleep. I was up all night playing around with my newfound power. Everything about it was just so exhilarating, I felt unstoppable. Well maybe that's taking it a bit too far; my enemies are only just trees. As the sun rose up a little higher you could see all the damage I had actually caused. Then I started to feel a bit guilty, I had destroyed just about all the trees within sight distance of me. Some were chopped down with a clean slice of my dagger; others were just smashed to bits by a bit sheer brute force. It looked like a small battlefield, but without all the blood and corpses. Maybe I could just walk away and no one would know it was me. Then there was a rustling somewhere around me, someone had found me. Within mere seconds of hearing it someone jumped out at me, startling me a bit. He just kind of stood there looking at me, or rather frowning at me. His expression was really intense, like he had planned on killing me or something; he even had the hilt of his sword clutched tightly at his side. He wasn't frightening me though, especially not with the little doggie ears he had on top of his long silver hair. He was a puppy..? That's so cute! Though I'm not a big fan of dogs, the ears were a nice touch.

"Can I… help you..?" I spoke first, but he still looked as if he had intended on killing me.

"Are you one of Naraku's incarnations?" He sure was to the point.

"No… Isn't it obvious that I'm a wolf…?"

"You don't smell like a wolf..." He growled.

"Well I am! So you should..."

"InuYasha, where did you get off to..." I was interrupted by a strange human girl climbing out of the broken down trees. She sure had a strange way of dressing; her clothes looked like nothing from around here.

"Kagome, I told you to wait over there!" He turned his attention to her and seemed a bit more relaxed.

"Is this girl what you set off running for?" She seemed rather angry at him. I really hope I'm not about to be pulled into the middle of their lover's quarrel.

"This wolf reeks of Naraku" his attention was then turned back on me, but a little less menacing this time. I lifted up one of my arms to take a small sniff. I didn't _reek_ of anything, that jerk!

"How rude, At least I don't reek of dog!"

"Want to come over here and say that?" he growled slightly under his breath, and I returned the favor.

"Is that a threat?"

"InuYasha, look, she has Sacred Jewel shards!" She interrupted us, yet again. What the hell? How could that human girl tell that I had shards?

"Where at?" he looked more intent on killing me again.

"She has two, one in each hand!" Okay, this girl was seriously starting to piss me off. Not only could she tell that I had them, she knew how many and where.

"Where'd you get the shards, _wolf_?" I didn't really care much for his tone.

"That's none of your business!"

"Quite a likely story, Naraku!"

"I told you already, I'm not Naraku! Geez, can't those doggie ears hear anything?"

"Hand 'em over!" He over looked my insult. I don't blame him for wanting them though, they were quite incredible.

"Over my dead body!" I growled at him, reaching for my daggers.

"That can be arranged!" He retaliated by unsheathing his sword. Even with the two shards in my hands, how were my tiny little daggers going to be any match for his big ass sword. What did I just get myself into…?

"Kagome!" Two very cheerful voices called to that human from behind me. It was Ginta and Hakkaku, I'd recognize those voices anywhere, but how did they know this strange girl. Whatever it was, perfect timing on their part. When they caught up to us, they both completely ignored me for her.

"Hey guys, how are you doing? Where's Koga?" Oh, so now she knew Koga too? The puppy wasn't paying any attention to me anymore either. He just kind of crossed his arms and watched them talk, sort like what I was doing.

**Kill InuYasha…**

"What?" I could have sworn I heard someone speaking to me, but they all just looked over at me in confusion. Was I hearing things? What was this voice, and why was it so… familiar?

**Kill InuYasha…**

There it was again! Was this some kind of joke? Why was I the only one that could hear this guy talking to me? I looked all around me, but there was no one else with us.

**Kill him, Mizune, kill InuYasha!**

Then it was just like my mind had stopped collecting rational thoughts. I was more like a bystander in my own body; it just kept doing things, even when I told it to stop. Before I even knew it, I was swinging my daggers rather rapidly at the puppy. I tried my best to hold back, and I was a little successful. Even though my body insisted on attacking him, I was able to keep myself from doing that much damage to him.

"So now you want to fight me, huh?" He laughed, taking out his huge sword again. Everyone else just kind of stood there watching, they had no idea what was going on. I didn't want to fight him though, but something told me I had to, and my body was not listening to me. It wouldn't even allow me to speak, let alone take back control.

**Stop holding back and kill him! Kill anyone that gets in your way!**

** '**Stop, whoever you are, please stop. I don't want to kill anyone, why are you making me? Please just leave me alone!' My cries went unheard, whatever was behind this would not let me go. There was a sudden pink flash of light, but before I could tell what it was I had stopped it with my bare hand. Then my body's attention turned on the girl; that pink light was one of her arrows. I wasn't able to inflict any damage on her though, seems that the puppy was keen on protecting her. I did get a few good swings on him though, and every time he tried to attack me I just held out one of my hands and stopped his sword. The human girl insisted that he not hurt me, something about it not being my fault, and that it was because my jewel shards were black. Whatever that ment.

**Hurry up and bring me his head!**

"No… " I managed to gain the slightest bit of control before I was forced to kill Hakkaku for stepping in my way. My hand shook rather violently, trying to gain back control before I slit his throat. I won't do it, I won't kill my best friend; and whoever this is can't make me. I was able to take back full control again; then I hurried and got up off of Hakkaku. His face was still in shock, everyone's was accept InuYasha. I couldn't believe what I had almost done, how could I have ever live with myself if I had killed one of my only friends? I just backed away from them slowly and apologized. I couldn't even count the amount times I said 'I'm sorry' and no matter how many it was said; it never felt enough. The only thing I could think to do was get away, to run before I had a chance to hurt them again. The worst part about leaving them, though, was knowing that they were too scared to try and stop me.

**I'm disappointed that you failed such a simple task, but I still may have some use for you yet.**

"Whoever you are leave me alone! I refuse to kill anyone, and you can't make me!" it appeared that I was just shouting at nothing though. I sat down beside the river's edge and began to splash water in my face. Of course, I didn't actually think that it would cure everything, but I had to do something. My thoughts kept going back to the look on Hakkaku's face right before I almost killed him. It made me utterly sick, how could I let myself attack him like that? Then a sudden large gust of wind just about blew me over, and I heard a strange woman call my name. She dropped down next to me off of a feather that she stuffed back into her dark black hair as it shrank. She wasn't really much taller than me, but the strange thing about her was her eyes, they were bright red.

"Lets go.." She sighed, looking more than unhappy to be standing in front of me.

"Just who the hell are you?" I snapped at her and she just let out a heavy sigh.

**Go with her…**

"And where exactly are we supposed to be going?"

"Don't ask stupid questions and just hurry up, damn I hate doing Naraku's dirty work..." I wanted to object, and I tried; but my body just took over again and forced me to leave with her.

**Well, after a pretty crappy day at work I managed to get the new chapter up! I didn't think I was going to be able to but I'm glad I did. Sorry if this chapter is a little short, I kind of wanted to leave you guys a little on edge while I determine which of the ideas i'm going to go with next. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and you guys are awesome! c:**


	6. Chapter 6

Naruku kept me locked in one of his castles; hidden away from the world. He only had me come out every now and again to kill someone that got to close. Not that I wanted to, he had me under his complete control. He never told me what he had planned or why I was even here. I've actually never even spoken to the guy; I have no idea what he even looks like. If he needed anything from me he had Kagura come talk to me. She hated me, not that she would come out and say it, I knew. She didn't want to do anything for Naraku and she especially didn't want to have to 'babysit' me. The door then slid open and she walked in with a heavy sigh.

"What is it now?" I crossed my arms

"Don't give me that crap, Mizune, I don't have time for it"

"If you hate dealing with me so much then why don't you just tell Naraku to come down here himself?"

"Don't be stupid, he wouldn't."

"Well what does he want me to do now?"

"He wants you to remove some pests that are sniffing around a little too close to the barrier"

"And if I refuse?"

"I'm pretty sure you don't want to know the answer to that." She had a point though, if I didn't do what she had asked I don't know what Naraku would do. So of course I had to take care of it. I was tired of killing humans though. It made me feel like a monster, and even more so because they weren't doing anything wrong. Kagura said that Naraku wasn't even hiding in the castle, so what was so important that he needed to protect? When Kagura pointed me in the right direction I had them killed in no time. It was a monk and a small boy, neither of them even saw me coming. What would I ever do if Koga got close to the castle? Would Naraku force me to kill him too? I don't think I could even bring myself to do it if I had to.

After I was finished I was forced back into my room. It was like a prison, there wasn't anything in the room but a small torch that I kept lit just to scare away the demons that lurked outside. He kept them there so that I couldn't escape; not that I hadn't tried to many times. There were so many of them that I was always forced back into my room. I sighed and leaned down against the wall in the corner of the room. I wonder if Hakkaku and Ginta are looking for me, if they miss me. If they were, I wish they would hurry up, I hate this place and I don't want to be here anymore. I closed my eyes and tried to picture myself with them, laughing around a fire over everything and nothing. I miss them…

I found myself trapped in a large dark room, no doors, and no windows. Not a single means of escape. The only light that entered the room were through the tiny cracks in the ceiling that the small amount of moonlight managed to shine through; but even that wasn't enough to see with. I began to walk around mindlessly; all my senses distorted by the thick darkness and the overpowering smell of blood. My whole body began to shake in this horrific state of fear. What was going on, where was I? Feeling my foot fall down on something rather soft in my path, I stopped. I couldn't see what it was but my first instinct was to crouch down beside whatever it was. It was a body, but whose did it belong to? I ran my hands up and down the body, there was some armor, and then… fur. Then it suddenly hit me, it was a wolf, someone I knew. I pulled the body into my arms and lifted it up. Then a small amount of moonlight from the ceiling shined down on us. A huge gasp escaped my lips, as if all the breath had left my lungs.

"Hakkaku!" I screamed as loud as my lungs would allow me to. His body was soaked in blood; an expression of pure fear on his cold lifeless face. A small golden knife was sticking out of his heart. Much like my… no, it was exactly like my dagger. I couldn't... I didn't... No, I would never kill him! Then the ceiling crumbled over top of my head; revealing two more bodies. "G-Ginta..." I had no more energy left in me to scream. Laying Hakkaku's cold body back on the ground I crawled over to him. He had the same mortified look on his face. My hands shook violently as I reached down for him; but I couldn't bring myself to touch him. The same gold dagger was sticking out of his heart as well, but his body was a lot worse off than Hakkaku. One of Ginta's arms was missing, and his head just lay there, hardly attached to the rest of his body. I looked away in disgust and tried to cover my mouth. The room around me then started to warp, stretching into what seemed like an endless hallway. At the end of that hallway; Koga's lifeless body was laying against the wall in a pile of blood.

My eyes shot open and I gasped for breath; sweat pouring off my forehead. I sat up and looked around frantically. It was just a dream, I reminded myself a couple times; still trying to catch my breath. It wasn't enough to stop the tears though. If anything had ever happened to them, I don't know what I would do. Sure Koga was a jerk, and the others were a little strange; but they were my family. I tried to wipe the tears from my eyes, but the more I tried the more that fell. I have to get out of here; I have to make sure that they are okay. I hurried to gather my composure as I lifted myself off the floor. Naraku has kept me in the stupid castle for long enough; he took away the jewel shards he gave me, so what does he need me for anymore? I slid open the door to the outside and quickly reached for my daggers, preparing for the worst. The demons that he usually kept lurking around were all gone. Was he letting me leave? Not that I was planning on sticking around to ask him, even though my mind continued to tell me that it was a trap. Naraku didn't seem like the type that would just let me leave without having a plan. I didn't care though; all I was worried about was making sure that my friends were okay.

It was hard to tell how much time passed while I was there; must not have been a lot though because Koga and the other hadn't found me yet. That is if they were even looking for me… Knowing Koga he probably thinks that everything is better off without me. I sighed, looking up at the sun as it began to set behind the mountains. Then I started to feel a loss a breath and had to stop running. As a small breeze caught my hair I noticed it had turned blonde. My eyes flashed back up towards the sky; another full moon, but how? How is it that there can be two full moons so close to each other? I guess finding everyone will have to wait until tomorrow…

Lucky for me I happened upon a small village not too far from where I was. After talking with the head of the village he promised to give me a room to sleep in if I protected the village from a demon that continued to torment them. Even though I wouldn't be much help to them, one can't pass up on a free room and food. If I time it right too, I can be out of here by daybreak and not have to give another thought to this demon. As if I could fight anything as a pathetic human anyway. Apparently this demon was only after women and the village leader was afraid that his daughter would be next. What would a demon want with human girls anyway?

After finishing my meal I decided to take a look around the village; at least to make it look like I was trying to do something about the problem. It seemed just like every other village you come across, nothing special. Then again the demon could be right in front of me and I would never be able to tell. Might as well just go back and get some sleep.

"E-excuse me..?" A male approached me from behind and I turned to him.

"Yes?" He looked very frantic, and his eyes were so dark, like he hadn't slept in days.

"You're here to deal with the demon right?"

"Yeah… about that.."

"Please, the demon took my wife a couple nights ago, Please help me find her."

"Where exactly is he taking all the women?"

"There's a lake outside the village, the demon lives there, he probably keeps them at the bottom of the lake." Great, a lake monster; just what I wanted to deal with. Oh, and did I mention? I can't swim!

"I'll do my best..." I sighed

"But there is something else."

"What?"

"My wife was the last woman in the village; other than the children."

"So?"

"The demon will surely come for you!"

"So when he does I'll kill him and then that will be that"

"But, you don't understand..."

"Look, I'm not worried about, kill the demon, find your wife, got it. Now if you'll excuse me." With that said I walked away. I didn't intend on dealing with the demon, and I especially don't now that it's some kind of fish. I don't like fish, and I don't like deep water. The faster I can get some sleep the faster I can get out of this damn village.

I was almost fast asleep when I heard someone knocking on the door. 'This better be good' I growled under my breath, and the knocking continued. "I'm coming, damn!" I crawled over to the door and slid it open. On the other side of the door had to have been the best thing to wake up to. It was just a big cheesy smile from Hakkaku. "Hakkaku!" I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck. "Where's Koga and Ginta?" He pulled away from the hug.

"They are waiting for us, c'mon lets go." His voice was a little cold, like he wasn't happy to see me at all.

"Okay.." I got up and followed after him. "How did you guys find me?"

"How hard could it be? We are wolves remember?"

"Yeah, you're right I guess. How long did it take you to find me?"

"Just a couple of days." His answers were so monotone and it didn't sound like things he would say. He didn't act like he was happy to see me, and not once did he tell me he missed me!

"Is something wrong, Hakkaku?" He then suddenly just stopped, without even answering my question. I tried to get his attention a couple times but he just stared off into the lake in front of him. I walked a little bit closer to him; then a huge tentacle came out of the lake. Before I even had a moment to defend myself it wrapped around me and lifted me off the ground. This was a trap, of course, I should have known better. If it's too good to be true it almost always was. The demon held me down under the water for what felt like forever; if he just wanted to kill me he could have made it quick. The last way I saw myself dying was being drown to death. I struggled to reach down towards my dagger but the grip around my waist seemed to get tighter.

I bit down on the tentacle and the grip around me loosed enough for me to grab and my daggers and try to get free. I almost managed to make my way to the surface of the water but the tentacle grabbed my leg and yanked me back down further. This was it; I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I gasped in a large amount of water as I slipped in and out of consciousness. The last thing I was able to do was cut myself lose, but I didn't have enough energy to try to get back to the top of the water. Right before I was about to give up hope, I felt someone pull me out of the water. I wasn't able to tell who or what it was before the lack of oxygen set in and everything went black.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven:

Ever since Hakkaku and Ginta brought me back home things have seemingly gone back to normal. Naraku has gone back into hiding and everyone has stopped worrying about him for the time being. Everyone is now preoccupied with the change of the season; mating season. It's so annoying being around everyone while they're all kissy face with everyone else. Even if anyone wanted to be with me I wouldn't want to be a part of it. Maybe that's one wolf instinct that I didn't get from my mother. I'm sure it has nothing to do with not being wanted. Okay, so I was a little jealous, but nobody wants to be with a 'half breed' and I've already accepted that. Besides, my pups would probably come out strange anyway. I mean, think about it, a half demon and a demon, what would the child be? Like three parts demon and one part human? How the hell do all those traits mix around, and what would people say? 'Haha you're a two-thirds breed?' That would have to suck; I would never put anyone through that.

I was enjoying all the time to myself anyway! With Koga and the others busy preparing for everything the hot spring was all mine, and I was about to have the most amazing bath. I hurried to undress; throwing all of my fur into one messy pile on the ground. I may be a woman but I'm not good at folding and putting things away neatly. I untied my hair and ran my hands through it; messing it up and scratching my head at the same time. The water felt wonderful; like every one of my muscles were all relaxing at the same time. All my cares and worries seemed to float away with the rising steam. Well, all of them except the season change. I could fool everyone when I said I didn't care, but there's no fooling myself. Yeah, sure it bothered me a little; why wouldn't it? To see everybody happy and know that will never be me. Okay, it bothered me a lot. I could feel my eyes starting to well up a little.

I need to stop thinking about it, just relax I whispered to myself until I felt the tears recede. Then my attention was turned to a rustling in the trees. It was just a couple of girls wanting to join in on the bath. I tried to just ignore them, not that it was easy over all the giggling and shouting. When they got closer to me they just kind of stopped and glared.

"What?" I snapped at them.

"Get out half breed, it's our turn." One of them growled at me.

"There's plenty of room for all three of you." I turned my head trying to ignore them. There went my peaceful, wonderful bath.

"There's not enough room with you in there half breed." Another one of them cut in. then they shared a life of achievement, like being nasty deserved applause.

"You know what, fine, whatever." I threw my hands up in the air and climbed out. They all just laughed at me, mumbling under their breaths some kind of half breed crap. This was the last thing I needed to deal with today. I grabbed my clothes up of the ground and flashed my fangs at them as I walked off. Who wants to take a bath tainted with bitch anyway?

Once I was sure I was far enough away from them I stopped and sat down against a tree to air dry. That was just the thing I needed to make this day so much better. I gladly await the day that I don't have to deal with this crap. Why couldn't my mom just settle down with another wolf? Why was that such a difficult task? I still remember the conversation I had with my father when I was a little girl. I was so fed up with being picked on I got into a huge fight with all the other children in the village. When my father scolded me for it I just threw a bunch of hurtful questions at him. 'You can't help who you fall in love with' he told me. The one thing he never realized though; who will ever love a half breed? He never liked talking about anything that had to do with my mother, and I always made him feel so bad about the things that they did. I even made him cry once, but I don't like to think about it. Besides, he's dead now and there's no sense tainting his memory with bad thoughts.

I got up and stretched before putting my furs back on, I was dry enough. I tried to ring out my wet hair as best I could before tying it back up out of my face. The only thing that could cheer me up now would be my best friends; Ginta and Hakkaku. I just hope they weren't too busy with mates of their own, but then again those two don't seem like the type to get involved in that crap. Then again, I could always be wrong. Everyone gets lonely I suppose. Before I knew it had stumbled across them in the woods, they were just sitting around talking. What they were talking about stopped me from approaching them, even though I didn't feel right eves dropping, I couldn't help myself.

"Well, why don't you just talk to her?" Ginta put his hands behind his head and leaned back.

"What would I even say to her?" Hakkaku's face was bright red. That's so cute; Hakkaku has a crush on someone! I wonder who it is.

"Just tell her exactly what you told me, you act like it's a big deal."

"It is!"

"It's not like you don't talk to her all the time anyway."

"Well, yeah, but not about things like this." It was so adorable how flustered he was, as if talking to a girl was that hard. He could have always come to me for advice, I'm a girl, and I know how these things work. Wait a minute, why the hell didn't he come to me for advice?

"What are you so worried about? If she likes you, she likes you; if she doesn't, she doesn't."

"I don't know..."

"Are you afraid of what other people would think?"

"No... I already know what they would think." What would anyone else care if he chooses a mate? They are all doing the same thing. This conversation between them is starting to make no sense.

"Well, then, I don't know what else you want me to say."

"I guess I just wanted to get that off my chest..."

"The best advice I can give is to talk to her. "Hakkaku then got up and left, probably to go talk to that girl. I didn't learn anything from that! Now was my chance to poke Ginta for information. I ran around the far side of where he was sitting and jumped out at him, tackling him from behind. I growled playfully into his back as we tumbled across the grass.

"Gintaaa!" My tail swished from side to side. "Whatcha doing" I laughed playfully at him as I sat down beside him.

"Well I was relaxing before you came up and scared the crap out of me." He laughed.

"Where's Hakkaku?" I decided to start small with the questioning.

"He went to talk to someone." He was walking right into my trap!

"Who?"

"Just someone."

"Out with it Ginta! I heard you two talking."

"Y-You did?" he cheeks lit up red.

"Sure did, and I'm not leaving until you tell me who Hakkaku likes!"

"Go ask him yourself." He laughed again, throwing his arms behind his head.

"Fine then, I will!" I got up off the grass and stormed off.

It wasn't as easy to find Hakkaku as I thought it would be; I checked everywhere. Even Koga didn't know where he was. I wasn't planning on letting him get away that easy though. When my curiosity got the better of me, it won't let me rest until I solve the mystery. I sat down along the river's edge and took a deep breath. Let's see, he wasn't at the waterfall, or in the cave. He wasn't at the spring, or with Ginta. Where else could he possibly be at? This was starting to get exhausting. I laid my head back on the grass to stare at the clouds, but he was right behind me! I jumped halfway out of my skin. How long was he behind me for, and how didn't I know he was there?

"Don't scare me like that, Hakkaku, damn!" He didn't say anything though and sat down beside me. He looked sick, other than his bright pink blush his face was actually kind of pale. Oh no, had he been rejected? "Is everything okay?" I pu my hand up to his forehead. He didn't really answer me though, just shook his head. I've never seen him this upset before, and it's not like I could question him about that girl now. "Well whatever it is, it's not worth getting so upset over!" I laughed slightly.

"Mizune..." He finally said something.

"Yeah, what is it?" He just opened his mouth a couple times like he wanted to say something but no words ever came out. "You know what will make you feel better?" He just shook his head in reply. "How about something to eat? That always makes me feel better!" I flashed him a big smile. "I'll go catch us something, wait here!" I got up off the ground and started to walk off. He grabbed my wrist to stop me and my face flushed slightly as I turned to him.

"Mizune, wait, I..." Then it hit me, all the pieces began to fall into place. The reason he was acting so weird, the reason Ginta wouldn't tell me, and the reason I couldn't find him. My face was now bright red; it was me. That's why he was acting so strange and why he couldn't talk to me. I shook my head and snatched my arm away from him. I had no idea what to say, and neither did he, so I ran. How in the world was I supposed to deal with this? I could hear him calling after me but still I didn't stop. I'm such an idiot; I probably made him feel so much worse.

I kept myself hidden in a tree until almost sundown. I feel like such a horrible person avoiding him like this, but I don't know what else to do. Of all the pretty wolfs in this tribe, why me? Nobody is supposed to love the half breed, that's how it works. Still no matter what I do I can't bring myself to be unhappy about it, this is probably the best feeling I've ever had. Does that mean that I share his feelings? No, couldn't be that… because if Ayame wasn't around.. What am I saying! I don't like _Koga_, that jerk! I buried my face in my palms and let out a heavy sigh. What am I going to do? I can't keep running from Hakkaku forever. Maybe if I just apologize and hear him out he'll forgive me. At least I had hoped that it would be that easy. Come to find out Koga left with Ayame, Ginta and Hakkaku hours ago in search for Naraku. I can't believe they went without me, not that I was around for them to ask me anyway. Besides, I thought everyone was preoccupied with mating season. I'm such an idiot! Anything else I can mess up today? I had to make things right, even though I have no idea which way they went, I have to find them; hopefully before anything bad happens…

**Okay so, the next chapter is probably going to be the last one. The story isn't really coming together like I thought it would and im not as proud of it as I would like to be. :c That and not many people seem to enjoy it. So my thinking was to give the story a great ending and maybe more people will like it. So this chapter cuts off short to mark the start. On that note, this chapter was going to up yesterday but instead of writing it I was drawing all day! One of my drawings happens to be of Mizune, from the story. So if you guys are any intereasted at all to see a visual referance of her; I have the picture saved as my little avatar thing. A bit of a warning; it's not that amazing but it is very cute.**


End file.
